A Shenny Valentine
by Daedaleopsis
Summary: A terrible turn of events gives Sheldon a new perspective on his life. Will he have the courage to grasp at a chance for true love?
1. Chapter 1

I don't own the Big Bang Theory, just some dvd's. If I did own the show, Shenny would be real instead of merely the way things should be.

Chapter 1

Penny grimaced as she pulled her mail out of the mailbox. It was full of flyers for florists, lingerie and couple's massages at a local spa-the typical Valentine's Day offerings. She guessed she would go with lingerie again this year. After all, Leonard never got tired of unwrapping her like a present. With her failed proposal still recent in both of their memories, she figured they would stick with what worked for both of them.

As she turned to leave, she saw the lanky figure of her neighbor coming down the stairs toward her. He stopped and greeted her, and then reached to open his own mailbox.

"Sheldon," she said reflectively. "What are you going to get Amy for Valentine's Day?"

He sighed, a long, drawn-out, mournful sound. "Last year, I made her my emergency contact at work. Since that option is not available for me to repeat, I am not certain what would be appropriate."

"Well, you know what she _wants_," Penny teased in a roguish tone.

He gave her a blank look.

"She wants you to kiss her!" she cried, rolling her eyes. _For a genius, he was so frickin' clueless sometimes_, she thought.

"I do not wish to be pressured into further intimacies with Amy," he said, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down as he swallowed convulsively.

"Sweetie," Penny said gently. "Like it or not, kissing and hugging and all that stuff are expected when you're in a romantic relationship. Amy's actually been really patient with you so far, but you're stretching things out to the point of ridiculousness."

"But I don't want to kiss her. I don't dream about her," Sheldon complained.

Penny had turned, about to climb the stairs, when his words penetrated her brain. She stared at him, open-mouthed, and then grabbed his arm and propelled him downstairs into the laundry room. After a quick glance confirmed that the room was empty, she shut the door firmly behind them.

"Spill," she commanded.

"What do you mean?" he asked, but a muscle was jumping in his face.

"You said you don't dream about Amy. That implies that you _do_ dream about someone, doesn't it? So who is she?" Penny stalked up to Sheldon, step by step. He retreated until his back hit the wall of washing machines. His eyes darted around nervously as if he were looking for an escape route.

"No one... there is no one," he protested, his face contorting so violently at the lie that she wanted to laugh.

"Sheldon, you couldn't tell a convincing lie if your life depended on it. Now tell me."

"It doesn't matter. She is... not available to me, ever," he said miserably.

Penny frowned. "She's _married_?" Then she gasped. "Are you in love with _Bernadette_?"

"That's preposterous," he scoffed. "Bernadette and I are little more than acquaintances, in case you haven't noticed. Not to mention the fact that she's so tiny, she'd need a step ladder to have a conversation with me."

"Well, then, who is it? Someone at work?"

"Please, don't ask me," he begged, sounding so unlike his usual arrogant self that Penny's heart went out to him.

"Sweetie, if you have feelings for someone else, then why are you still with Amy? Staying together with someone just so you don't hurt their feelings doesn't work in the long run. Trust me, I've done that myself."

"I am led to believe that expressing my feelings for this person is forbidden in perpetuity, according to a traditional codified set of rules colloquially known as the 'Bro Code'," Sheldon said.

"Bro Code?" Penny asked, making a face. "Who put you up to that? Was it Howard? Or Leonard? It was Leonard, wasn't it?" she said, watching his reaction. "But why would he..." Her face went slack as comprehension dawned.

"_Me_?" she whispered. "Am I the one?"

He nodded, head down, unable to meet her eyes.

"That first time I broke up with Leonard, you were the only one of our group of friends who would talk to me. You'd come over and have dinner with me, and I thought... but then I told myself I was just imagining things. Just pretending some other guy liked me in order to feel better." She sniffed, and Sheldon looked up in alarm to see her wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

"So even though I broke up with Leonard, he still warned you off?" she asked, her voice breaking.

"Yes. He's my best friend, and I couldn't risk losing his friendship. He's the only best friend I've ever had... besides, he called dibs," he replied.

Although she said nothing, Penny was eerily reminded of how Amy always called her "bestie". She never called Amy her best friend, because the truth was that she just didn't feel that way. She'd heard Sheldon say Leonard was his best friend many times, but she couldn't remember Leonard ever saying the same thing about Sheldon. Over the years, there were a lot of things that he had done that weren't the actions of a friend at all, and this was one of them.

There was something she suspected now, something she had to confirm for herself. She took a step closer to him. "Sheldon, do you still have feelings for me? Is that why you haven't been able to... be more intimate with Amy?"

"I tried to push you away. I was rude, obnoxious, and downright insulting. Yet you still liked me. You were still my friend, no matter how much I pitched a fit and insisted on my own way." He smiled a little lopsided smile. "Your persistence would make a barnacle proud."

On an impulse, she reached up and laid her hand against his cheek. He swallowed hard and closed his eyes, his breath coming in stuttering gasps as if he had just run a race. After a moment, he spoke.

"Penny, please go. Leave before I do something that will ruin most of the relationships that we each value."

Her hand dropped, and her vision blurred. He was right. They were both too entangled in a web of obligations. She took a step backward, and then another, never taking her eyes from the tortured expression on his face. She was almost to the door when his low voice echoed through the quiet room.

"I've never been more appreciative of my eidetic memory. It means I'll never forget exactly how it felt when you touched me. No one can ever take that away from me."

Penny clapped a hand over her mouth, whirled and ran from the room. She didn't stop running until she was inside her apartment. She collapsed on her bed, sobbing.

Sheldon mounted the stairs slowly, and then walked out the front doors of the apartment building, heedless of the pile of mail that he had left on the table by the mailboxes. He wandered down the sidewalk in a daze. He had never intended to tell Penny about his true feelings, had spent years hiding how he really felt.

His relationship with Amy had started out so innocuously. She was a rational, straight-forward person, and he enjoyed discussing scientific topics with her. But somehow, he had blundered in allowing his friends to believe he was romantically interested in her. All his friends had pressured them to stay together, most likely from a misguided sense of doing what was best for both of them. Apparently, he and Amy were both so odd that all of his friends thought they must belong together. They never guessed that while he was more comfortable with someone who was logical and intelligent, what he _needed_ was someone who cared for him.

He'd never been able to tell Penny what was in his heart. Even around his friends, it seemed best to pretend he didn't have feelings. That was the only way to avoid being hurt by their careless taunts. But anyone could see that the only people in his life that he truly loved, his mother, Missy, and his Meemaw, were not rational people at all. It wasn't rational to put up with him. Hadn't he learned that lesson over and over throughout his life? That was why he craved their attention, even when he didn't know how to accept their love and pretended not to care.

Penny had become the fourth woman in his life, and she was neither sister nor mother nor grandmother. He didn't know how to categorize her, how to react to her, so he was rude and arrogant and demanding. That usually drove away anyone who might try to get through his defenses. Yet she persisted. She sang him Soft Kitty, drove him to the comic book store, and defended him to his friends. She stayed home on Saturday nights to do laundry with him, she cooked him spaghetti with cut-up hot dogs, and she stood up to him when she thought he was wrong.

His feet had carried him several blocks from his apartment building without any notion of where he was. He was lost in thought, trying to solve an unsolvable equation. He never saw the car come racing around the corner as he stepped into the crosswalk. There was a squeal of tires, and the sickening thud of a body being flung through the air like a rag doll. Horns blared, passers-by gathered, and sirens wailed. Sheldon was insensate to it all.


	2. Chapter 2

Despite having made Amy his emergency contact at work, Leonard was still listed as Sheldon's I.C.E. contact in his phone. Raj and Howard had come over to the apartment, and they were prepping their fighting kites in anticipation of spring when Leonard received the call. His face drained of color, and he took down the details in a daze.

"Dude, what's wrong?" asked Raj anxiously as soon as he hung up.

"Sheldon was hit by a car. He's being taken in for surgery at County General."

Leonard quickly called Amy, who said she was going straight to the hospital to find out what was going on. Howard texted his wife, who was visiting her parents. After some deliberation, Leonard sent a text to Penny telling her what he knew. He debated calling her, but she was supposed be at work by now. After all the times she had breezed in late to work at the Cheesecake Factory, he was concerned she might lose her job if she left them short-staffed on a weekend. Besides, she always fussed over Sheldon far too much when he was sick. _She never fusses over _me_ that way_, he thought irritably.

Amy got to the hospital first. When Leonard, Raj and Howard arrived, she informed them, in a dry monotone, that Sheldon had experienced intracranial hemorrhaging as a result of the accident. His injuries required immediate surgery to prevent brain damage. Leonard shuddered at the idea of a brain-damaged Sheldon. Then he quickly rallied when he realized that if there really were any significant loss of function, Sheldon would most likely return home to his family, thus freeing Leonard of the obligation of trying to care for him.

Raj stared at Amy when she recited the horrific facts in a completely emotionless voice. He wondered if she was in shock, or if she really didn't have any feelings about the situation one way or another. Howard, meanwhile, was silently cursing the loss of a perfectly good Sunday. Now that he was married, he had less time to spend on his favorite geeky pursuits. He was disappointed that they would have to postpone the Mystical Warlords of Ka'a tournament they had planned. Then he brightened. Maybe he could run back to the apartment and retrieve their decks of cards. They had to do something to kill time while waiting for Sheldon to get out of surgery, right? While he was there, maybe he could pick up some clothes and stuff for Sheldon, too.

Penny didn't get the text from Leonard until the end of her shift. She'd had a typical dinner shift at the Cheesecake Factory, which meant that after six hours of being on her feet, she was exhausted, splattered with food, and had earned a grand total of sixty-four dollars. She swore loudly as she saw the message. Sheldon had been in an accident and Leonard hadn't even bothered to call her? She was still cursing her boyfriend's name as she sped across town, breaking multiple traffic regulations in the process.

"Oh, good... Penny. We were wondering when you were going to get here," Leonard said in an offhand manner as Penny entered the stark waiting room.

Her gaze took in Amy, reading a medical journal, and the three guys gathered around a couple of end tables, which were pushed together and covered with playing cards.

"How is he? Is he still in surgery?" Penny demanded, suppressing a wave of anger at the seeming apathy of Sheldon's friends.

"He's in post-op now. We're not allowed to see him yet," Leonard replied.

"Hello to you, too, bestie. The surgeon said that the procedure was successful, and he believes that Sheldon's prognosis is very good," Amy added, putting down her magazine.

"But what happened? How did he get hurt, and what was the surgery for?" Penny asked. She hated when they treated her like she was stupid just because she didn't understand all those big technical terms they threw around. Plus, Leonard's text hadn't really given her much information.

"It seems that Sheldon somehow took it into his head to go for a walk this morning. He was hit in a crosswalk by a car whose driver was texting someone. The EMT's recognized the signs of increasing intracranial pressure. CAT scans revealed that he had a subdural hematoma and intracranial hemorrhaging, so he was scheduled immediately for neurosurgery," Amy replied.

Raj saw the confusion still lurking in Penny's eyes, and took pity on her. "He hit his head, which bruised his brain and caused bleeding inside his skull. The doctors had to operate to stop the bleeding and relieve the pressure building up inside his head. Without surgery, he could have suffered brain damage."

Penny sank down into a chair, her hand over her mouth. "Holy crap, that sounds really serious. What if they weren't able to operate in time?"

Just then, a nurse dressed in colorful scrubs entered the room.

"Who's here for Mr. Cooper?" she asked.

"We all are, and it's 'Dr. Cooper'. He has two PhD's in physics, one of those beautiful-mind genius guys," Penny said quickly. She missed the annoyed look Leonard shot toward her.

"Right," the nurse said after a beat. "Well, _Doctor _Cooper is doing well. His vitals are strong, and the attending physician says it was a textbook surgery. However, the anesthesia won't wear off for several more hours, and visiting hours are over for the day. You can come back tomorrow at 10 a.m."

"Wait; that's it?" Amy cried, standing up. "We've been hanging out in this stuffy little room all night, and now you're telling us we can't even see him?"

The nurse's expression underwent a subtle change as she looked at Amy. "He needs to recuperate, miss. His health should take priority over your need to see him." Without sticking around for a response from Amy, the nurse turned and left the room.

Penny woke early the next day, having set her alarm so she could get to the hospital as soon as visiting hours started. Leonard had texted her, saying that he and the guys were going in to work, but they would stop by and see Sheldon at lunchtime. She rolled her eyes and huffed in annoyance when she read that.

When she entered Sheldon's hospital room, she felt a wave of panic as she took in the monitoring equipment and the tubes and wires connected to Sheldon. He was lying on the bed, still and very pale, and one side of his head was shaved with a neat row of stitches in the center of the bald patch. Amy was sitting in a chair next to him.

"Oh my god, is he going to be all right?" she cried.

Amy looked up from her position next to the hospital bed. She was holding Sheldon's hand between both of hers and stroking it repeatedly. "The nurse told me that he regained consciousness briefly when she was taking his vitals. He's not comatose, just sleeping."

"Oh, thank goodness. If anything were to happen to him..." She trailed off under Amy narrow-eyed gaze. _That's right_, she thought, feeling a sharp pain in her chest. _Amy's his girlfriend. She's the one who has the right to sit by his bed and hold his hand. Hers is the first face he'll see when he opens his eyes. _

Sheldon's fingers twitched. Instantly, Amy leaned close and called in a rather loud voice, "Sheldon, can you hear me?"

His eyelids fluttered open. He glanced at Amy, and then his gaze wandered around the room until he saw Penny. A ghost of a smile curled the corners of his mouth. "My angel," he breathed, and then his eyes closed once more.

Amy shot a horrified glance at Penny. "He didn't know me. My sweet babboo didn't know who I was," she cried, her voice rising to almost a shriek.

"Calm down, Amy," Penny said in a soothing tone, although she was also worried. "Maybe it's just the drugs, or the anesthesia wearing off. When my grandpa was in the hospital for heart surgery, one medication they tried had him talking about the men in black who were standing on the ceiling. Sheldon's probably just on some weird trip."

"He recognized_ you_," Amy shot back.

"Well, he called me his 'angel'. That could still be just a hallucination. Anyway, at least he's conscious and able to talk. That's the most important thing. I'm sure he'll get all the details sorted out later."

"Details? I am _not _a detail!" Amy hissed, then spun on her heel and left the room abruptly. Penny sighed and opened the magazine she had brought. It was a copy of _Physics Today_, and she had swiped it from Sheldon's apartment before she came to the hospital. She chose an article at random and began to read aloud, stumbling over the unfamiliar multisyllabic words. _He'd better appreciate this_, she thought grumpily.

After a few minutes, Amy returned and sat back down in the chair on the other side of Sheldon's bed. She touched his face hesitantly, and Penny fought down the urge to slap her hand away. It felt like Amy was taking advantage of Sheldon while he was unconscious. Instead, she concentrated on her magazine as Amy picked up Sheldon's hand and began fondling it again. The two women sat like that for over an hour. A nurse came in to check Sheldon's vitals and drew some blood. Penny winced to see the crimson fluid filling up the vial. It felt wrong, somehow. She suddenly realized that if Sheldon were awake, he would be having a hissy fit. She wanted him to be well enough to be the whackadoodle she knew and loved.

She kept reading, but her voice was getting tired, and she was grateful to get to the end of yet another article she didn't understand at all. Rising, she shoved the magazine into the outer pocket of her purse. "Hey, Ames, I guess I'm gonna go now. I have to go home and get ready for work. Do you want me to ask the guys to bring you anything?"

Amy opened her mouth to answer, but before she could speak, she was distracted by a noise from Sheldon. Both women leaned close to him.

"Don't... go." The syllables were faint but distinct.

"I'm right here, Sheldon. I'm not leaving you," Amy said, her grip tightening on his hand. He winced and opened his eyes slowly.

"Penny... don't go... my love."

Penny's eyes were as wide as saucers. Did he just call her "my love"? Sheldon skewed his eyes over toward Amy, and his hand twitched. "Nurse, would you please... give my wife and I... some privacy?" His _wife_? Penny shot a panicked glance at Amy.

Amy let go of his hand and stood up. All the color drained from her face as she protested, "Sheldon, it's me, Amy. I'm your girlfriend, remember?"

He frowned at her. "You are not my _par'Mach'kai_. Please leave."

"I... I'll go get the nurse. Maybe she can tell us what's going on," Amy said, sounding scared. She bolted out of the room.

Sheldon ignored her, his eyes never leaving Penny's face. "Come closer," he pleaded.

"Umm... I'm sitting right next to your bed," she said, confused.

He moved his arm slightly. "On the bed," he said with a faint smile.

"I don't think that's such a good idea," Penny murmured, shaking her head.

He reached his hand out, and without thinking, Penny placed her hand in his.

"I love you," he whispered as he drifted off to sleep again, still holding her hand.

Amy came back about ten minutes later. Scowling, she sat down in the vacant chair and crossed her arms.

"What are you still doing here, Penny? I thought you had to go to work," she said ungraciously.

"I wanted to hear what the doctor said. Sheldon's gotta be hallucinating, right? Is there anything they can do to help him?"

"Apparently, hallucinations are not a cause for alarm. The attending physician has been notified, and he will review Sheldon's prescriptions in a couple of hours when he does his rounds. In the meantime, there is nothing we can do except to wait."

"All right," Penny said reluctantly. "I guess I should get going then." She couldn't help stealing one more glance at Sheldon's face before Amy's annoyed glare drove her out.

**A/N: I've read any number of stories where Sheldon starts acting differently after some sort of head injury. I wanted to write my own version... with a twist. ****Also, ****_par'Mach'kai _****is a Klingon word translating roughly as lover, but it was used in Star Trek canon as part of the Klingon wedding ceremony.**


	3. Chapter 3

Mary Cooper arrived the following day. She bustled in and immediately took over Sheldon's convalescence. She even created a visiting schedule and insisted that all of his friends sign up if they wanted to come see him. As far as she was concerned, his recovery was a miracle that no one was going to mess with.

His insistence that Penny was his wife was a conundrum. Mary decided that it was best for him to regain his memories naturally, so she refused to let anyone correct him. Amy tried to argue with her. She said that current medical theory said that a patient with amnesia should be reminded of what they couldn't remember. Unfortunately for Amy, she wasn't equipped to match wills against Mrs. Cooper. There was a good deal of tension between Mary and Amy, but as Sheldon's mother, Mary's word was law. Amy grudgingly stopped bringing in photos and mementos to try to jog Sheldon's memory of their relationship. The strange thing was that he didn't seem to have amnesia, not exactly. Instead, he believed that he and Penny had started dating soon after he met Amy, and that Amy was merely a friend to them both.

Miraculously, apart from his head injury, Sheldon had suffered only minor bruises and lacerations. He was in the hospital for over two weeks before he was finally released. Although all of his friends came to visit him, Penny was the only one who could visit during the day. Amy continued to make him feel uncomfortable. As she was forbidden by Mary to try to force the return of his memories, she spent much of the time when she visited sitting in silence, glaring at him.

On the day before Sheldon was released from the hospital, Amy and Penny got into a fight. Penny had stopped by in the evening, breaking from her usual pattern, to bring him the latest comic books that Stuart had set aside for him. Amy was already in the room, and Mary had gone down to the hospital cafeteria to grab a bite to eat. Sheldon smiled in relief when Penny entered the room. As he opened up the top issue and started telling Penny about the series, something in Amy snapped. She got up and tore the comic book from Sheldon's hands, flinging it against the opposite wall.

"Sheldon, I've had it!" she yelled. "How is it possible that you remember the plot of that childish comic, but you have no recollection of me?"

Penny jumped up and grabbed the comic book. There was a large tear along the spine. "Amy, what the hell is wrong with you? He's had brain surgery! This isn't his fault! Will you stop being such a selfish bitch!"

Amy gasped in shock. "Take. That. Back," she gritted.

Penny deliberately smoothed the comic book and set it on the bedside table. She balled her fists and widened her stance. "Make me."

Sheldon cleared his throat. "Excuse me, Penny, but I would hate to see you banned from the hospital because you resorted to physical violence. I believe that I can solve this dilemma."

He turned to Amy. "Amy, regardless of what relationship you claim we had before my accident, I find you tiresome and intolerant. Our relationship agreement is terminated. Please do not visit me here at the hospital again. I have no wish to associate with you any more."

Amy's jaw dropped, and her eyes filled with tears. "Sheldon, no, please. I... I love you."

"You have a peculiar way of showing it. Also, my feelings for Penny have not changed since I regained consciousness after my surgery. My regard for you, however, has lowered on a daily basis. Now please leave before I am obliged to call for security."

With a final screech of outrage, Amy whirled and left the room. Penny sank down on the bed beside Sheldon.

"There, there," he said, putting an arm around her. "I apologize for that bit of unpleasantness. I was attempting to be polite to her, as I understand that she is your friend as well as mine, but she took things too far."

Penny sighed and shook her head. "She was driving me crazy, too, sweetie, but what if you get your memories back and decide you want to be her boyfriend again? You kind of burned some bridges there."

Just then, Mary re-entered the room. "I just saw your friend Amy go tearing out of here in a fit of rage. Shelly, what on earth did you say to her?"

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, Mommy, but I told Amy I don't wish to be in a relationship with her. Frankly, I think it is something I should have done a while ago."

Mary crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at her son. "Penny, would you excuse us for a minute, please?"

It was less a request, and more a politely worded command. Penny squeezed Sheldon's hand and left. She waited out in the hallway for almost twenty minutes. Just when she was starting to think she should just go home and come back another time, Mary opened the door to Sheldon's hospital room.

"Penny, dear, my son would like to speak to you," she said. There was a curious expression in her eyes as she gazed at the blonde. It seemed to be part confusion and part triumph.

Sheldon smiled at Penny as she walked back into the room. "My mother thinks that I should tell you... my version of events and why I called you my wife."

"All right, I guess it can't hurt. So in your 'version of events', how did we get together?" Penny asked curiously.

"I had formed a tenuous relationship with Amy, but when she attempted to manipulate me into a romantic liason, I asked you out on a date instead. You accepted, and we were both surprised how much we enjoyed ourselves. At the end of the evening, you stood on your tiptoes to kiss my cheek just as I was turning to face you. Our lips met, and I knew something had changed for me forever."

"The next day, I called Amy to wish her the best of luck with Stuart. Leonard was a little jealous at first, but he was dating Priya at the time. After he saw how happy we were together, he told me to take good care of you. You came home with me to meet the rest of my family that Christmas. The first night in Texas, Meemaw asked me when I was going to propose. We had only been dating for less than two months, but the moment she said it, I knew it was right."

"We went to ComiCon that year dressed as the Tenth Doctor and Rose. We were at a panel that had just opened up for Q&A. I let them know ahead of time what I was planning, so they let me up to the microphone last. It was the scariest thing I'd ever done in my life, getting up in front of hundreds of people and saying how I _felt_, how much I loved you. And the look of joy on your face when you said yes made up for it a hundred times over," he said, as he picked up her hand and pressed a gentle kiss to the inside of her wrist. "We were married three months later at Meemaw's farm house. And every day since, I've woken up thinking I am the luckiest man in the world to have you love me."

A sniffle distracted him from his monologue, and he looked up to see Penny wiping tears from her cheeks.

"Is something wrong?" he asked in alarm.

"No, sweetie, it's just... I have to go," she said abruptly, standing up. "I need... I have to think. I'll see you later, I promise." She grabbed her purse and darted out the door.

She only made it as far as her car before she totally lost it. She sat behind the driver's seat, sobbing hysterically. When she heard Sheldon's version of events, something inside her heart had broken wide open. She had only to look into his eyes to see the truth of how much he loved her, and the scariest part was that she wanted his version to be real, too. She knew Sheldon as a friend, but this glimpse of him as a husband, a lover, had turned every pre-conceived notion of him on its head. His voice was so gentle, his focus on her so absolute, that she found herself falling for... all of it. Wishing things could have gone that way, instead of the convoluted mess she had made of her life. She'd been pressured into telling Leonard she loved him, by Raj, Bernadette and Amy. It wasn't that she _didn't _care about Leonard. She just wasn't sure if her feelings were really strong enough to marry him and build a life together. She couldn't forget that Leonard had cheated on Priya, no matter what he called it. He had texted Alex when his interest was clearly more than that of just friends. Sometimes, she wondered if he would end up cheating on her, too, just because some bimbo "let him".

With this new, other Sheldon, she knew that he would never treat her like that. It wasn't just that he didn't look at other women; it was the way he looked at _her_, like she was the center of his universe. She didn't know what to do with that feeling, but every time she compared it to the way Leonard acted, the disparity gnawed at her.

She didn't really trust Sheldon's declaration of love for her. As far as she was concerned, he might wake up the next day thinking Amy was his girlfriend. For all she knew about head injuries, he might not remember the things he said to her at all. But his words had aroused a deep ache inside. She wanted more... more than a relationship based on mistrust and mediocre sex. More than some sneaky boyfriend who was always trying to make himself look good and blame all their relationship troubles on her.

She sat up straight as a realization struck her. This thing that she had with Leonard, it wasn't love. No wonder she had been so reluctant to say she loved him. This travesty of a romance was so far from the unequivocal, happily-ever-after love that she had dreamed of as a girl.

"It's not love," she said aloud, with a dawning certainty. "I don't love Leonard." Suddenly, she moaned and dropped her head into her hands. "What am I going to do?" she moaned.


	4. Chapter 4

On the following day, Penny came to the hospital to help Mary bring Sheldon back home. He fussed over the delay in getting the attending physician's signature on the forms. Penny just smiled at him and patted his hand. It was good to have Sheldon acting like his old self, she thought. Then she glanced down to where his hand was wrapped around hers and amended that thought. The hand-holding was different. Although Sheldon was still recuperating from his surgery, that hadn't stopped him from touching her and insisting on being close to her whenever she was in the room. Mary's eyes had almost popped out of her head the first time she saw Sheldon reach for Penny's hand. Up until then, she hadn't quite believed him.

The next problem cropped up unexpectedly. Getting Sheldon up the stairs of 2311 North Robles had been difficult since he was still weak. Mary and Penny propped him up between them. They took the stairs at his pace, stopping as often as necessary. But the real issue arose when they arrived at the fourth floor landing, and Sheldon saw that he still roomed with Leonard. He refused to enter the apartment. His increasingly loud protests alerted his roommate, who had just gotten home from work.

"You wanna catch me up, Sheldon?" Leonard asked, standing in the doorway.

"You don't live here anymore. Penny lives here, with me. You live across the hall," Sheldon objected vociferously.

"Come on, Sheldon. You can sit in your spot," Penny pleaded, indicating the leather couch.

"My spot, as you put it, is no longer a position on a piece of furniture. My place is with you," he said, smiling at Penny even in the midst of his outburst.

"All right, Sheldon, that's it!" Leonard suddenly yelled. "I've had it with you! There is absolutely not the slightest shred of evidence that your delusions are true. Penny is _mine_... I mean, she's my girlfriend, not _your_ wife. You're not married, especially not to Penny. If nothing else, you should still remember that I called dibs when we first met her."

"You did_ what_?" Penny exclaimed in shock.

"Well, you know... it's just an expression," Leonard backpedaled.

"You know, Sheldon's been my friend every bit as long as I've known you, and at least _he's_ never treated me like a shiny toy!" Penny spat out furiously. She dug in her purse and pulled out her keys. "Here, Mary, can you unlock my apartment door? Sheldon can stay with me until we get this mess straightened out."

Leonard's jaw dropped as he was subjected to twin withering glares from Sheldon's two female advocates. He watched forlornly as they helped Sheldon cross the landing to Penny's place. Was it his imagination or did Sheldon smirk at him before the door closed?

Whatever dregs of energy Sheldon had left after climbing the stairs had been expended by his hissy fit. He was so tired that he didn't argue when Penny tucked him into her bed. He didn't even object to the fact that her sheets weren't clean, or that her bedroom floor was littered with dirty clothes. She sang Soft Kitty a few times until Sheldon fell asleep. As she closed the bedroom door softly, she took a good look at her apartment.

"If Sheldon's going to be staying here for any length of time, I guess I'm going to have to clean up."

To her surprise, Mary poked her head up from the other side of the open refrigerator door. "Looks like you could use some groceries, too, darlin'."

Penny blushed. "Well, to be honest, I usually just eat with the guys."

"Don't know how you can afford take-out every night on a waitress's tips," Mary said astutely.

"Umm... they kind of pay for me?"

"They do, or Leonard does? I gotta tell ya, dear, seems to me like you don't wanna be under his thumb like that. Trust me, that kind of thing will blow up in your face."

"I just don't make much money as a waitress..." Penny began.

Mary put her hands on her hips. "Now, did you not leave your family and come out to this God-forsaken place to be an actress? Don't call yourself a waitress, darlin', unless you've already given up."

"I... I guess I already have," Penny admitted, her face crumpling suddenly. "Recently, I thought I had finally gotten a small part on one of those _CSI_ shows. I was so excited. I thought I'd finally gotten my big break, but then my part got cut. And Leonard... he said some really rotten things. He doesn't think I have what it takes to make it as an actress. After that, I got pretty hammered, and that's when I proposed to him."

"And are you engaged now?" Mary asked shrewdly.

"No, he... he didn't know what to say, so I kind of got mad and took it back."

"Well, of all the cockamamie, screwed-up bullcrap... excuse my French... that really takes the cake. Penny, I like you. You seem to be a pretty down-to-earth girl who has her head screwed on straight. Why are you dating someone who makes you feel bad about yourself?"

"Well, he's really sweet... sometimes. And he's so nice... as long as he gets his own way. I guess I really don't know why I'm with him."

"Hmmph. Maybe that's something for you to think about, instead of just keepin' on doing what you've been doing. Now, how 'bout I give you a hand cleaning up around here? I know how particular Shelly can be."

Two hours later, Penny's apartment was spotless. She now knew where Sheldon had learned his cleaning skills. Mary had mopped, wiped and disinfected places that it had never occurred to Penny to clean. They were almost finished when Sheldon emerged from the bedroom. The two women fussed over him, making him comfortable on the sofa while Penny surprised him by pulling out a DVD set of the Doctor Who reboot. When he asked her about it, she just shrugged and said that David Tennant was a hottie.

He smirked, and that was when she remembered what he had told her about the two of them dressed up as Rose and the Tenth Doctor. Face flaming, she tucked a blanket around him and settled down next to him to watch the show.

Mary cleared her throat. "If it's all the same to you kids, I think I need to go have a little heart-to-heart with Leonard. If Sheldon's staying here, that changes the bunking-down situation."

Before either of them could respond, she was out the door. Sheldon laughed his breathy little laugh.

"What's so funny, sweetie?" Penny asked.

"If my mother makes up her mind things are going to be a certain way, there's no power in the 'verse that can stop her," he said. "I almost feel sorry for Leonard."

"That's a _Firefly _quote, isn't it?" she asked curiously.

He grinned at her. "_Serenity_, actually, but I do believe there's hope for you yet," he replied and dropped a kiss on her forehead.


	5. Chapter 5

"Hello, Leonard, I thought you and I might have a little chat," Mary said amiably as she walked into apartment 4A without knocking.

"Uh, what do you want to talk about, Mrs. Cooper?" Leonard asked, tilting his head up anxiously.

"I know you're not best pleased about the way my son feels about your lovely next-door neighbor."

"As far as I'm concerned, he's a traitor. What kind of guy sneaks around with his friend's girl?"

Mary arched an eyebrow, unimpressed with his bravado. "I'd hardly call it sneaking around. Sheldon's recovering from major surgery after a life-threatening accident, and Penny has been kind enough to look after him." She waited, giving him enough rope to hang himself, as the saying went.

"Well, since Sheldon's being such a dick-tator, I thought it might be best for all of us if you stayed with Penny, too." There was enough of a pause in the middle of the word "dictator" to indicate that Leonard had wanted to say something else, but had thought better of it.

Mary crossed her arms and stared down at Leonard.

Damn it,

he thought crossly, _why is everyone taller than me_?

"Now, Leonard dear, I know you don't mean that. Either I sleep here, or I'll sleep over at Penny's place. And I may be a redneck, but not so much that I'd share a bed with my adult son, you feel me?"

Leonard gulped as her meaning struck him with the blunt force of a two-by-four between the eyes. If Mary wasn't welcome in his apartment, if she stayed at Penny's, she would take the couch. Since Penny was still mad at him, she would probably refuse to stay over at his place, even if he offered her Sheldon's room. That would leave her sharing her bed with Sheldon, this strange new man who seemed to be in lo- to be infatuated with Penny. Leonard had worked so hard for years to get with Penny. It seemed unlikely that she would drop like a ripe fruit into the lap of his awkward, phobic roommate. But he wasn't willing to take the chance.

So he tilted his chin up, smiling his most placating smile. "Of course, you're welcome to stay here, Mrs. Cooper."

Her lips curled into a smirk that was eerily reminiscent of her son's. "Good boy, Leonard." It sounded exactly like the insult it was meant to be.

The inevitable confrontation came a number of days later. Leonard had hardly seen Sheldon. Every time he tried to "drop by" for a visit, he was told that Sheldon was resting. Sure, he'd recently had brain surgery, but did that really mean he didn't have time for his best friend? Not that Leonard actually thought of Sheldon as his best friend any more. Actually, as he considered it, they had been more like that portmanteau word "frenemies" lately. But since he found that calling Sheldon his best friend gave him a certain amount of leverage, he continued to do so, as long as it suited his best interests.

Leonard wasn't sure exactly what was going on between Sheldon and Penny. He tried hard to tell himself that Sheldon was an emotionless robot who wouldn't know what to do with a girlfriend if he had one. After all, hadn't he been dating Amy for over two years and still cringed when she insisted on holding hands? However, the more insecure voice inside Leonard's head kept reminding him that this Sheldon wasn't the same person as before the accident. Every time Mrs. Cooper refused him entrance to Penny's apartment, his suspicions grew.

His breaking point came almost a week after Sheldon had been released from the hospital. Mary had come over to his apartment, ready to settle down for the night. She made an off-handed comment to Leonard about how Penny and Sheldon were curled up on the sofa together, as cute as a pair of puppy dogs. Leonard gaped at her. As soon as she disappeared into Sheldon's room, he stormed across the hallway.

Behind the closed door, Mary smiled to herself. Really, it had been only too easy to manipulate Leonard into pitching a fit. She had just been biding her time until the perfect moment, which finally arrived a few minutes ago. Penny and Sheldon had fallen asleep on the sofa, sharing a blanket and leaning against each other. After snapping a picture with her cell phone-the two of them really were just so cute together-Mary crept quietly out of Penny's apartment to put her plan into action.

"God helps those who help themselves," she quoted softly, smirking. "That may not be in the Good Book, but it ought to be."

Leonard slammed open the door to Penny's apartment. "Aha!" he shouted. "I knew you were cheating on me!"

Penny awoke with a start, as did Sheldon. Feeling disoriented, she asked, "Leonard, what's going on? What are you doing here?"

"Oh, that's just great! Now_ I'm _the interloper? And just what the hell are you doing with Sheldon under that blanket?" Leonard yelled.

Penny sat up, the blanket falling down from her shoulders. She was wearing a camisole top, typical garb for her, but to Leonard's jealous eyes, it might as well have been lingerie.

Sheldon put a hand on Penny's arm, although it wasn't clear whether it was to reassure her or restrain her. "Leonard, you need to stop talking to Penny like that... right now," he growled.

Penny looked at Sheldon, and a soft smile spread over her face. "It's all right, sweetie. I can handle this," she said.

She stood up at her full height, looking down her nose at Leonard. "So because I'm spending time with your friend, who is my friend too, you assume I'm cheating on you? I fall asleep on his shoulder, and your mind immediately goes into the gutter? I have never cheated on anyone I was dating, which is more I can say about you."

She looked back and forth between the two men. Sheldon had risen and come to stand beside her, although he still weak enough that he needed to hold onto the sofa back for balance. Suddenly, Penny laughed, although it was a mirthless sound.

"All this time, I thought I was dating the "nice guy", but you're just a jealous, insecure, whiny little freak who has to put down everyone around you in order to feel good about yourself. Leonard, we're through. Walk through my door unannounced again, and I'll show you what Junior Rodeo means."

Leonard gaped at her. "But Penny, we're meant for each other. It's destiny."

She took a step closer, eyes narrowing.

"I... Sheldon, I called dibs!" he whined in protest.

At that remark, Penny let out a scream of anger and punched Leonard in the nose. He howled and doubled over. She yanked open the door and shoved him out into the hallway. "I am not a thing to be claimed, you misogynistic jerk!"

She slammed the door behind him and leaned against it, breathing hard for a moment.

"Penny, are you all right?" Sheldon asked quietly.

With one more steadying breath, she walked over to Sheldon. His eyes widened as she put her arms around his neck. She raised up on her tiptoes and slowly closed the gap between them. As she kissed him, his hands lifted to her waist of their own accord. He pulled her close against him, savoring every tactile sensation. After too many Mississippi's to count, Penny reluctantly pulled away. Despite Sheldon's dream of being married to her, he clearly had no experience kissing, and she needed to stop before she did something that would panic him.

She gazed up into his eyes, darkened to a midnight blue with passion. "Perfect," she murmured, answering his question of a few minutes ago. "Everything is perfect."


	6. Chapter 6

Leonard stumbled back into his apartment. His face was throbbing, and he felt like throwing up. He was so focused on his own misery that he almost walked straight into Mrs. Cooper. She was standing in the middle of the living room, a suitcase in each hand. Dumbfounded, he stared at her.

"Leonard, I don't like your attitude," she announced. "In fact, I no longer feel welcome here at all, so I'm going to go stay with Penny. By the way, young man, I could hear you clear across the hallway, so I have no problem telling you that I think you ought to unburden yourself to the Almighty. You have a lot of pride and jealousy that needs confessing. I think I'll mention your name to my prayer group back home. Maybe they can pray you straight."

Mary marched across the landing, but at Penny's door, she stopped and put her suitcases down. She turned the doorknob slowly and quietly and was rewarded by the sight of her son, completely oblivious to the rest of the world as he was locked in an embrace with his beautiful and kind-hearted neighbor. Smiling, Mrs. Cooper closed the door silently. She'd give them a few more minutes of privacy.

After what seemed to be an appropriate amount of time, she opened the door noisily, banging the suitcases against the door frame. She was seemingly absorbed in maneuvering her luggage through the entryway. By the time she looked up, Penny was by her side, offering to give her a hand.

"Well, my dears, I suddenly feel unwelcome staying across the hall."

Penny looked abashed, and started to say something, but Mary shook her head. "No, darlin', it's high time someone put that little weasel in his place. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you for the loan of your couch, Penny dear."

She held up a hand to forestall their arguments. "No, no, I wouldn't dream of putting you out, and Shelly's about twenty years too old to share a bed with his mother. And, Sheldon Lee Cooper, that means no funny business," she said, fixing her son with a discerning look. "I'm still your momma, and don't think I don't know what the two of you were up to, right before I came in. Also, I have a feelin' these walls are pretty thin."

He turned red as Penny laughed awkwardly. "Don't worry, Mrs. Cooper. We just... got together five minutes ago. I think that would be moving a little fast, even for me." She winced then as that last part came out of her mouth. She didn't want Mary to think badly of her.

With a knowing smile on her face, Mary said, "That's nice, dear, but I was talkin' to my son. Cooper men are all as alike as peas in a pod. Once they fix their minds on something, they'll move heaven and earth to get it."

Penny grinned. "I guess that does sound a little like Sheldon. Right, Moonpie?"

He glanced from his mother to Penny. He had the sneaking suspicion that he had somehow been outmaneuvered again, but there was nothing he could do about it. "I'm going to go get changed into my pajamas now," he announced loftily and retreated, feminine laughter drifting on the air behind him.

Sheldon was sitting up in bed, dressed in his flannel pajamas and robe, when Penny emerged from the bathroom. Her sleepwear consisted of a low-cut sleeveless top and very brief shorts. He swallowed hard, trying not to stare. She slid under the covers beside him.

"Relax, Moonpie, I'm not going to bite," she said, seeing how uncomfortable he looked. "We can just talk if you want. In fact, I think that would be nice."

"I believe that _not _touching you would require a great deal of restraint on my part," he replied. "But you are correct; we should talk. I want to know everything about you. I feel as though we have seven years of catching up to do."

"How 'bout we do a little bit of both?" she asked. She cuddled up against him and draped an arm across his midsection. He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer.

They talked for hours, until Sheldon, up way past his normal bedtime, couldn't keep his eyes open any longer. He fell asleep holding the woman he loved. Penny curled up next to him, amazed at how much her life had changed in the past twenty-four hours. She loved the fact that even though he clearly desired her, it was more important to him to get to know her than to jump right into a physical relationship.

That had been her pattern in the past. Her relationships had been all about having a good time. Then when she met Leonard, she had been flattered that someone so smart was interested in her. But the truth was, he was really only interested in her body, and the best she could say about their sex life was that he tried really hard. She shook her head. Going from relationships based solely on physical attraction to one based on desperation and low self-esteem was not an improvement. She'd known that she wasn't really happy with Leonard, but she had felt like having a devoted boyfriend was the only thing going right in an otherwise frustrated and unfulfilling life.

She was unable to resist giving Sheldon a little squeeze as she thought about how lucky she was. The way he treated her made her feel cherished, valued, and respected. _This is a forever kind of love_, she realized, and that thought didn't scare her one bit as she drifted off to sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Sheldon awoke early the next morning to the unfamiliar sensation of a warm female body pressed up against his own. He gazed down tenderly at Penny's sleeping form and brushed a lock of hair back from her face. As Penny had said last night, everything was perfect... except for the fact that their new-fledged relationship was based on deception. Now that he had everything to lose, he was scared to death to tell her. The truth had to come out, though, and the sooner the better. There was no way he could allow himself to start a relationship based on deceit. He watched her sleep, breathing in the soft fragrance of her hair, as he pondered various scenarios in his head. He was still feeling nervous and unsure as she began to stir. She yawned and rolled over to face him.

"Good morning, Moonpie," she said, with a sleepy grin. "You know, I could get used to this, waking up next to you."

"Penny, there is something we need to discuss," he announced.

She sat up, frowning. "That doesn't sound good."

"I want to reiterate that my feelings for you are genuine," he began. He swallowed hard. "However, the lapse in memory which precipitated this chain of events which led to our pair-bonding was feigned."

She looked at him blankly.

"I never lost my memory. I knew who Amy was when I woke up in the hospital. At some point after my accident though, most likely before I had regained consciousness from my surgery, I had a dream or hallucination. I dreamed that we were married, that we started dating and fell in love just as I described to you. When I heard Amy's voice, I understood that it wasn't real. I remembered talking to you in the laundry room, telling you that we couldn't risk ruining the relationships we already had. But after my dream, I knew that loving you was worth the risk. So I took that slender chance that fate had offered me in the form of a near-death experience."

Penny was staring at him in shock. "You lied to me?" she asked in a small voice.

"No," he counted quickly. "No, I knew I was unable to tell an outright falsehood, but I did pretend that I had forgotten about Amy."

"And in the hospital, when you were holding my hand and asking me to sit next to you, was that a lie too?"

He looked stricken. "No, Penny. After my accident, I thought I was going to die. I could hear everything the emergency medical crew said, and they were not at all certain that they could get me into surgery in time. The one thing I couldn't stop thinking about was how foolish I had been, hiding my feelings from you for years, all for the sake of maintaining the status quo. When I heard your voice, I understood that I had been given a rare second chance... my mother called it a miracle."

"Your mother?" Penny asked, eyes widening.

"Yes, I was concerned that she knew me too well and would figure out that something wasn't right. So I took her into my confidence before I left the hospital." He licked his lips and looked down at the comforter. "She told me that if Leonard thought we were spending too much time together, in just a short time, he would go crazy with jealousy. I have to admit, she was exactly right about him."

He didn't know what else to say, so he simply sat there and waited for her decision. She bit her lip, frowned, and toyed with a corner of the sheet.

Finally, she said, "So the only thing you mislead me about was that you believed your dream was real."

"Yes," he admitted in a low voice.

She lifted her head, and he could see that her eyes were brimming with unshed tears. He felt a moment of panic. She was hurt... she would never forgive him... she hated him.

"That day in the hospital, when you told me your dream, your version of events, do you remember that I left really fast?"

He nodded.

"I couldn't tell you at the time, but I can tell you now. The things you said, your vision of our life together... it was so beautiful. I couldn't imagine anything more perfect. It made me see how small and sad my life had become. My relationship with Leonard was so twisted and messed up that I didn't even realize until I heard your dream that what I had with him wasn't really love at all. The way he treated me wasn't love either. I ran away because it ripped my heart in two, thinking that I would never have that kind of love. I thought you were still hallucinating, that you would get your memory back and go on being Amy's boyfriend. You were braver than I was. What you did was kind of crazy, but you rescued me. You saved both of us from a lifetime of misery, trying to be enough for people who robbed us of our happiness. I'm not angry at you, Sheldon; you saved me. You're my hero."

As she leaned in to kiss him, he finally realized that the tears in her eyes were tears of joy.

Over breakfast that morning, Mary surprised the two of them by proclaiming her intention to leave that day. She waved off their protests.

"I already booked my flight, and it departs this afternoon. It's been a real pleasure staying here with you, Penny, and getting to know you better. I'm certain that my son is in good hands. Besides, it's starting to feel a little crowded in here, if you get my drift?" She focused on her son and his girlfriend with a smirk.

The rest of the day passed all too quickly. Mary regaled them both with tales of Sheldon's antics as a child, and Penny laughed while Sheldon pretended to glower. Truthfully, he was pleased to see how well his mother and Penny got along. He hoped someday they would think of each other as mother and daughter.

Penny drove Sheldon and Mary to the airport after lunch. As Sheldon got out of the car to hug his mother goodbye, he needed to have a private word with her. "When you see Meemaw, could you let her know that the next time I visit, I'd like to have something that she told me I could have a long time ago."

Mary gave him a long look at this cryptic message. "That 'something' wouldn't happen to be the engagement ring that Pappy gave her? The one she would never entrust to your big brother?"

She laughed as he spluttered and turned pink. "It ain't that hard to figure out, Shelly Bean, the way you look at that girl like she hung the moon in the sky. When the time comes, you tell Penny I said welcome to the family. She may not be perfect, but I can tell she's perfect for you, and that's all that matters."

She stepped back, holding him at arm's length. "Look at you," she said softly. "My little boy, all grown up at last. Your daddy would be so proud of you if he were here. I'd like to think he can look down and see you. He would be pleased as punch to meet Penny." She glanced away, wiping her eyes. "Well, you take good care of each other, Shelly, and I hope it's not too long before you bring her to Texas," she said with a meaningful look.

He smiled. "We'll both come visit you just as soon as I can convince her that I'm never going to change my mind. She's the one, Mommy."

Mary smiled. "I know, dear. But now that you're thinkin' about marriage, I think it's time you started calling me 'Mom', don't you?" She gave him one last hug and waved goodbye to Penny. As she headed into the airport, she flipped open her cell phone and speed-dialed her best friend.

"It's me, Barb. You'll never guess what. My oldest prayer request just got crossed off the list... That's right, Sheldon. Honestly, if anyone ever says to me they don't believe in miracles, I can tell them I saw one with my own two eyes, and helped it along a little too... Well, you know what they say. God helps those who help themselves."

**A/N: Hope you all liked Mary Cooper's role in the story. She sort of stole the show a little, but it was too much fun. Happy Valentine's Day, Shenny fans!**


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